The ever-so-helpful blurb about MinionTV describes the instrumental band as something in a similar vein as Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky. Thanks guys. Really, thanks. As a post-rock band, describing yourself in the same vein as the two biggest post-rock bands around might be good marketing, but it sure doesn’t narrow down what niche you occupy.

Post-rock as a genre has slowly been developing these little crevices and niches lately, as the crescendo-driven outfits a la Explosions In The Sky are getting just as over-populated as the legions of the broody and moody style a la Mogwai. The funny thing is that, listening to the Liverpool band’s self-titled album, MinionTV really got it on the mark between the two styles.

MinionTV are hardly doing anything new here, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The melodies in songs like “Battleships” try to soar as high as possible, but the electronic ambient undertones keep the whole thing grounded — relatively, for post-rock’s sake. Other songs like “I Hit, I Miss, I Fail” make heavier use of these electronic and ambient tones, reminiscent very strongly of some of Mogwai’s gentler tunes.

The album falters a bit towards the end with the concluding tracks of “Robot Meets Girl,” a ferociously melodic blast of rock, and the very different final track, “Don’t Burn The House Down (While I’m Away)”. The last track of the album is a slight disappointment, especially considering the sonic frenzy that MinionTV takes so long to climb up to and peak at. “Don’t Burn The House Down” seems more like a rejected B-side that somehow made its way on for pity’s sake.

Still, like I said before, there is little new ground tread on this album. But MinionTV don’t seem to be too unabashed about wearing their influences on their sleeve, and nor should they. It is a solid debut album with its ups and its downs, and like all post-rock albums, the ups are through the roof and those downs are through the basement floor. Luckily, MinionTV have more of the ups in this promising debut.

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When people say they like all kinds of music, they usually add the caveat “except heavy metal”. Peter Woodburn doesn’t. In fact, he is almost always asking for more heavy metal. His love for music stems from seeing the Grateful Dead at the tender age of 11 years, and it hasn’t faded since. He loves everything from 15-minute-long bluegrass jams to thirty-second grindcore blasts, as well as everything in between. Give him a monster riff, though, and he will be forever happy.